Guyana has not seen an increase in dengue cases but a few neighbouring countries have, so the country is on high alert and local surveillance has been scaled up, according to Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy.
The Caribbean region was recently placed on alert for the mosquito-born disease by the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) due to an outbreak of dengue in Puerto Rico and a rapid increase in the number of dengue infections in some Central and South American countries including Brazil and Jamaica.
A total of 192 dengue cases have been documented in Guyana for the year so far. This, Ramsammy said, is similar to the figure last year for the corresponding period. He said “the number is not unusual so there is no need for alarm but there is need for vigilance across the country.”
Speaking with reporters at a media briefing yesterday, the minister said the focus on dengue has intensified for sometime now and the ministry is currently receiving related information from 89 health sites spanning the country. He said the sources of dengue information had never been so numerous. What has also changed, according to Ramsammy, is that the ministry has moved from weekly mandated dengue reports to daily reports as they intensify early warning systems for dengue.
“I can safely say at this stage that no staff at the ministry who is working on dengue will leave this building without assessing the situation nationally every day because any alert we receive must trigger an immediate response,” he stated.
Fogging exercise
Beginning today the ministry will kick off a fogging exercise as a preventive measure in Regions Four and Five where a high number of dengue cases were recorded. Of the 192 cases documented so far, 100 were from Region Four while 54 cases came from Georgetown. Whether the dengue infection actually occurred in those specific areas, the minister was unable to say, but the infected persons were from there.
Fogging is only expected to affect the aedes egypti mosquito, which carries dengue, marginally. The minister noted that fogging is only done at nights while the aedes mosquito attacks during the day. However he said insect repellants and bed nets can be utilized to prevent dengue infections countrywide.
Additionally, he said, the ministry intends to commence a house-to-house campaign geared towards increasing the awareness of dengue fever and keeping Guyanese on the alert. He said the literature is extremely important so pamphlets with the necessary information will be distributed.
Ramsammy noted that the ministry has had little success in getting the private sector to be more forthcoming with information relating to dengue. He said this presents a problem to the ministry given that such information is needed to follow patterns, to fully understand the scope of the problem and in determining measures to be put in place. The minister urged the private sector to work along with the ministry.
Stabroek News contacted Sister Sheila Walsh, Chief Executive Officer of St. Joseph Mercy Hospital yesterday on the issue of dengue. She said the hospital has seen an unusually high number of cases within the last few years particularly during the post-2005 flood.
Sister Walsh noted that sometimes two of three patients at the hospital would be dengue cases and according to her, this signals an unusual number of infections. She said the hospital has seen 44 dengue patients between January 1, 2007 to September 1, 2007. Sister Walsh noted that these cases were confirmed after laboratory testing. According to her, Mercy Hospital like other private hospitals are required to fill out a form relating to the dengue cases, which is then handed over to the health ministry.
She added that they have complied with the rules and have always worked along with the ministry as it relates to information for the system.
This newspaper contacted Davis Memorial Hospital and Woodlands Hospital on the dengue issue. The Chief Executive Officer was out at Davis Memorial and a representative at Woodlands Hospital said he was not in a position to share such information with the media and suggested that we go through the ministry.
